Dan Lanning has been busy.
Since he was hired as head coach of the Oregon Ducks in late 2021, Lanning has had three dynamite offseasons in the transfer portal. 2022 seems like a quiet portal season until you remember Bo Nix was part of that transfer class.
2024’s transfer class, however, was by far Lanning’s most productive on paper. Since December, the Ducks have added two Marquee quarterbacks, one of the nation’s most talented wide receivers, one of college football’s top cornerbacks, and elite physical players on the offensive and defensive lines.
On Sunday, Brandon Marcello of 247Sports ranked each Big Ten football team by their 2024 net transfer portal performance, calculated by each team’s “net rating gain” from the portal. Oregon was fifth place in the Big Ten, with 14 new arrivals and 20 departures. Below is what Marcello had to say about Oregon’s portal season.
“If any two teams’ approaches in the portal are more alike than Oregon and Ohio State, we’d like to hear about it. The Ducks picked up their quarterback for this fall (Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel) and for the future (UCLA’s Dante Moore), and also added immediate help in speedy receiver Evan Stewart (98). Defensively, Oregon bulked up the already impressive strength in the trenches with Houston defensive lineman Jamaree Caldwell (93) and on the back end they solidified coverage with Washington cornerback Jabbar Muhammad (94). How often does a team replace a 15,000-yard passer like Bo Nix with another 15,000-yard passer like Gabriel? It’s never happened”
Marcello mentioned Oregon’s approach mirroring Ohio State’s, which makes sense since the Buckeyes come in No. 1 on his list. Ohio State had 25 players hit the portal this offseason and only brought in seven, but all seven are key additions.
The Ducks will host the Buckeyes on October 12th, and we’ll get to see both schools’ transfer classes go head to head. Ohio State transfer running back Quinshon Judkins is sure to shoulder a lot of the Buckeyes’ offensive load, and for Oregon, almost everything will hinge on transfer QB Dillion Gabriel.
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